Datang Lingnan King

Chapter 42, Weishui, Weishui
It is said that Jieli Khan led 20 troops and Liang Shidu's 2 horses did not attack the city all the way, but went straight to Chang'an. Not to mention the food.

Yu Chigong led troops to harass all the way. The 1 cavalry led by Yu Chigong were all well-trained elites. Although they could not compete with the Turks on horseback, the Tang army carried crossbows. They did not need to draw bows and shoot arrows, and they could charge sideways. While firing crossbows, when you get closer, you are using horse sculptures, and charging with long spears, so Turks with the same strength are generally not opponents.

The Turks divided their troops to rob, and Yu Chigong divided the soldiers into several teams to eat up the small troops. He exhausted the Turks day and night, but Jieli could not do anything.

On the one hand, Li Jing dispatched troops to evacuate the people, fortified the walls and cleared the field, and on the other hand, he dug pits and set up traps to delay the Turks, while slowly retreating. After all, the Turks had more than 20 cavalry, and they really couldn't fight in the field. On the one hand, the Turks did not attack the city, and went straight to Chang'an There is no way to use the city to consume them.

On April 9th, the Turks approached Chang'an after nearly a month of marching. Li Jing led 6 troops to defend Weishui River. stalemate.

On the same day, Feng Daiwen led troops to catch up with Qin Qiong and others. After the confluence, the number of troops and horses reached 7.5, and more than 7 horses.

On April 72th, the Turks invited to fight, and a total of 11 grassland warriors were sent out. Cheng Yaojin killed 5 people in a row, Liu Hongji killed 6 people in a row, Chai Shaobi shot 8 people, and Hou Junji killed 9 people. Zhang Gongjin killed 12 people, Cheng Chumo, Cheng Chubi, Yuchi Baolin, and Zhang Shanfeng killed 21 people in a mixed battle, and Xi Junmai, who was left by Feng Daiwen to protect Feng Daizhi, couldn't help but went out to fight, carrying a drum, urn, and golden hammer on foot. The horse killed 18 people, killing a total of 7 generals, 47 tribal leaders, and [-] warriors.

Jieli became angry from embarrassment and ordered a storm. The two sides fought bloody battles around several bridges for a day. Thousands of Turks were killed and injured, and they had no choice but to retreat to the barracks. If the warriors of the tribe were killed, they dared to fight there.

Turkic camp, "Khan should withdraw his troops, there is not much food left." A tribal leader suggested to Jieli.

"Yes, Khan, you can go to Lingzhou and Shengzhou to rob!" Another tribal leader quickly echoed; after all, the Turks came to Zhongyuan for the purpose of robbing. Many tribes in Chang’an are unable to attack and want to withdraw their troops. After all, they still have to plant barley in spring. Many people think that grassland peoples eat meat, but that’s not true. Cattle and sheep are still very precious food for them. Generally, they don’t kill old ones. They all ate highland barley, drank milk, and goat's milk, so Turkic wars rarely required food and grass, and they brought some highland barley by themselves. On the contrary, war horses needed fine food. Long-term war horses grazed randomly, not only would they lose weight, but they would also have diarrhea. In ancient times, diarrhea would kill people, not to mention animals, and war horses would also be unaccustomed. In history, many war horses died of Li Shimin's fight against Gaoguli, and died of cold and disease.

"No, we have already arrived in Chang'an. We came so suddenly this time. Datang must have been unprepared. The crowd must be pretending to be pretended by the people. They are saying that we will have more than 30 troops when Tuli Khan arrives. I'm afraid What, let me tell you, Luo Yi of Youzhou has contacted me a long time ago, and this time we will raise troops together, and Li Shimin’s children will definitely sue for peace. Anyway, the bridge is only so wide, and each of your tribes enters separately every day. It will be divided into 5%, and other people will look for other places on both sides to see if they can cross the river, Liang Shidu, your people will find a way to build a bridge." Jieli arranged tasks while promising a big reward.Master Liang dared to disobey orders there, so he had to take his own troops to find a place to cut wood and build a pontoon bridge.

On the seventh day of April, the Turkic attack killed 3000, and Datang 800.

On the eighth day of April, Li Jing discovered the Turkic intentions and assigned Zhang Gongjin, Chai Shao to defend the two sides, and Cheng Yaojin and Liu Hongji to patrol.

On the ninth and tenth day of April, the Turks attacked continuously, causing thousands of deaths and injuries every day, and the progress on both sides was not going well. Liang Shi secretly built a pontoon bridge, which was discovered by Cheng Yaojin. The bastard was fed in the water and the pontoon was burned.

"Khan, I haven't heard from Tuli Khan for many days. Luo Yina doesn't know how it's going. Why don't you send someone to talk to Li Shimin? As long as they pay the food and grass, we will withdraw our troops!" Traitor Zhao Deyan said to Xieli suggested.Zhao Deyan was originally a scholar in the Sui Dynasty. Because he was dissatisfied with the officials of the Sui Dynasty who took part in the Turkic examination, he had always been Jieli Khan's military adviser.

'good!Good idea, send someone to do it right away, and continue to attack tomorrow to put pressure on them. ' Xieli immediately agreed.

"Haha, it seems that Xieli wants to retreat, what do you think, pharmacist!" Li Shimin refused Xieli's request, and asked Li Jing after reading the letter written by Xieli.

"That's right, sage Huiyan, it seems that Xieli really wants to retreat. His reinforcements have never arrived. Although he hasn't received the news, he obviously feels bad. But he doesn't know that our Tang Dynasty sent us two days earlier. I know that his reinforcements are all gone, and Li Ji and others are almost encircled." Li Jing was rarely relaxed, and explained with a smile.

"It's a pity we can't kill Jieli this time!" Li Shimin clapped his hands and said fiercely.

He hated Turkic Li Shimin very much. He had given gifts to Turkic since Li Yuan started his army, and Turkic has always supported Liang Shidu and others to trouble Datang and prevent Li Tang from unifying the world.

"Why should the sage be upset? We will have the strength to destroy the Turks in at most two or three years." As an excellent military commander, Li Jing didn't understand Li Shimin's strategic intentions there, so he sent Jieli back. He will definitely not obey his command again, and there will be chaos in the grassland at that time, just to take the opportunity to consume the strength of the Turks and lay the foundation for future wars.

"Your Majesty! Jiang Guogong's large and small ships from Luoyang are coming soon, and the Turks can be wiped out in two days. At that time, only Xieli will be sent back." Li Jing comforted Li Shimin with a smile.

Li Shimin couldn't help laughing happily when he thought of Jieli riding alone and fleeing back to the grassland in embarrassment, apparently his anger had subsided a lot.

(End of this chapter)